Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are a major cause of concern for the Indian government and even other governments believe minorities are not safe there, top intelligence sources told CNN-News18 on Wednesday.
According to reports from local media and functionaries of Hindu minority groups in Dhaka, at least 97 places of the community have been attacked amid the ongoing political unrest. An ISKCON temple, a Kali Mandir, and homes of Hindus are among them.
“Hindu councillor Haradhan Roy was also murdered by protesters,” said a source. “The home of celebrated musician Rahul Ananda was looted and torched. In a very systematic way, radicals have burnt the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre and Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.”
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country in a military aircraft and landed in India on Monday as the army stepped in to fill the power vacuum after long-running protests against job quotas boiled over.
Bangladesh has seen nearly 4,000 attacks against its Hindu community since January 2013, said the sources.
“These are systematic attacks with one mindset and keeping two things in mind — attacks on Hindus by Islamists, and Hindus are close to Sheikh Hasina because of her proximity to India. Ongoing communal violence after Hasina’s departure is not spontaneous but deliberate and well-orchestrated,” a source said.
It has been found, said the sources, that multiple factors have played an important role in these constant attacks.
“The inaction of the state agencies is because they have decided to let this continue for some time. Now the Islamist groups have found a reason to attack Hindus that Indian policies are anti-Muslim and we have a reason to attack Hindus,” a source said.
Top intelligence officials believe these attacks are nothing but an act of terror, which was controlled by Hasina.
“Now these attackers have an open agenda which the state will also sponsor for a long time so that more negotiations can happen or they can give a handle to the international community. This will increase more in the days to come because of Saudi money for radical Islam, and also many Bangladeshis have gone to West Asia after the oil boom. They are also doing well in the Gulf and they want radical Islam in Bangladesh,” said a source. “Many of them have come back in old age with huge money and now want religion to spread through radicals.”
In the last 15 years, many radical political parties and groups like Ansarullah Bangla Team, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have emerged in the country.
“These groups have attacked secular intellectuals, terrorised the Hindu community, and launched dramatic terrorist attacks, including in Dhaka. The Hasina government wanted to crack down on them, but it was insufficient,” said a source.
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